Furniture bases for tables and chairs, in addition to their function of solidly supporting the table or chair, must be aesthetically pleasing. Economy of manufacture is also a very important consideration.
There are a number of furniture bases presently on the market which satisfy the basic requirements of support, aesthetics, and economy of manufacture, such as the chair base shown in Patent D-194,667, as well as the round or bell bottom bases presently on the market. Such bases do not, however, have the mass and form desired by architects and designers.
A base having a plurality of feet with a constant half-round cross section and a rather abrupt but softened end would have the requisite mass and form. However, such a design would be prohibitedly expensive to manufacture. It would have abrupt changes in contour with deep corners where the feet come together making it impossible to get down into such corners with conventional mechanical grinding and polishing devices.
Eliminating the corners between the feet by means of large fillets as in D-194,667 solves the grinding problem, but the large fillets detract from the appearance of mass and form sought.